HOMES UNDER THE HAMMER FACTS
Sharon Dale reveals why.
FOR Homes Under the Hammer fans it came as no surprise that Daniel Craig has been captivated by the daytime property show.
Apparently, the world-famous actor has been watching it in his trailer before shooting scenes for the new Bond movie Skyfall.
There’s little doubt among those of us already hooked that he’ll watch it again and again thanks to its addictive formula and its hilarious soundtracks.
The music is a big part of its success. A shot of a property with an outside loo accompanied by Baby it’s Cold Outside; Orange Juice’s Rip it up and Start Again is a regular for major renovations and for a house with nicotine stained walls then it had to be Golden Brown by the Stranglers.
“It’s got everything. The tunes and the true stories with a beginning, a middle and end all in one episode,” says the show’s co-presenter Martin Roberts, who invited his army of followers on Twitter to come up with propertythemed Bond titles. They replied with: On Her Majesty’s Secret Survey, Roommaker and A View To Kill For.
Licensed to Thrill is most appropriate for HUH. Broadcast at 10am every weekday of the year it has an audience share of 30 per cent, which apparently is huge. On Easter Monday two million people were watching and many more of us can now catch up with it on iPlayer.
After almost ten years it shows no sign of running out of steam and neither does presenter Martin. He is a one-man whirlwind who divides his time between filming, writing, TV engagements , running property training workshops and looking after his own buy-to-let portfolio.
His filming commitment to the BBC is three days a week and it’s a mad dash between locations all over Britain. In the past four years he’s clocked up 160,000 miles in his car. He also writes all his own lines.
“Sometimes I think: ‘What am I going to find that’s new to say about another two bedroom terrace but there is always something and generally what you see is a first take. It’s me going in and spontaneously saying what I think.”
He’s been enthusiastically pointing out the pros and cons of various auction properties for almost a decade but he never wearies of the job.
Every story is different, he says, and it combines his passion for broadcasting and property.
Warrington-born Martin, 49, studied electrical launched almost a decade ago and is on air every weekday morning at 10am and it’s also on iPlayer.
Each episode of the programme, hosted by Martin Roberts and Lucy Alexander, features three properties bought at auction. Viewers get a tour of the homes before they go to under the hammer, the bidding is filmed and the successful bidder is interviewed before and after the renovation.
The thrill is seeing the before and after shots and seeing if the numbers stack up. Estate agents are called to give valuations pre and post renovation.
It is the BBC’s most successful ever 10am slot show and its soundtracks are legendary. engineering at Bradford University while volunteering on hospital radio at the local Royal Infirmary. He later worked in local radio, then became a regular presenter on ITVs Wish You Were Here before landing the role on HUH.
His interest in property began at home with his DIY-obsessed dad., who he, says, had the house “constantly in bits”.
The skills he picked up then have been put to good use on his own renovation projects starting with his first house in Stockport, bought when he was 22.
“I did that one up and a few years later I sold it for twice what I paid for it and that’s when I first realised what a good investment property could be, ”says Martin.